What can you tell us about Black Mirror: Smithereens without giving the game away?
Black Mirror is so shrouded in secrecy, I barely know myself. I suppose we can deduce from the fact that I’m being interviewed that I am at least in it.
What else?
It’s about a man with a secret. Well, not a secret, a burden. It’s more of a psychological story than the alternative technological universes Charlie Brooker has created. It’s a very human story, but still an extraordinary, tense and moving role.
Is filming an episode of Black Mirror as surprising as watching one?
I’d ask on set, “What other films are you making?” and get hit by a blank stare. You’re not told if there’s any correlation between your episode and the others. But you do get a real sense that you’re making event television.
Fave BM ep?
I love the one set in space, USS Callister, with the brilliant Jesse Plemons.
What does Charlie Brooker actually smell like?
He smells like surprise. He smells of mystery. And of Cadbury Creme Eggs.
If we could Choose Our Own Andrew Scott Adventure, what would happen?
It would probably be like, do I eat chocolate for breakfast or do I go to the gym? And if you choose gym it’s the end. Ha!
Do you have a particular life-changing, butterfly-effect-moment?
Yes. On the same day I got my first role in an Irish film, when I was 17, I found out I won a bursary to attend art school. It was so weird both happened the same day. So I decided to go into showbusiness, which is why I’m this terrible, bitter, vacuous person speaking to you now.
Are you any good at Black Mirror-style tech or should we get someone else to set the Sky+?
Oh, absolutely, do. I never get angrier than with anything concerning wifi, passwords or apps. If I could still use a Laurence Olivier-style address book with a fountain pen, I would.
Who’d win in a fight between Moriarty, Max Denbigh from Spectre, and the priest?
Moriarty, because he’s the best supervillain ever created. Not my one – the written character.
What’s it like knowing that 95% of the population fancy you?
I’m sure it’s more the characters. Still, it’s better than people screaming in your face with disgust.
If you were Fleabag and she were the priest, would you still sleep with her?
I’m Fleabag and she’s the priest? That’s quite a Black Mirror question. I think they learn a lot about each other. It’s a very complex, conflicting relationship, but also a consensual one. So, yes, I’d still have sex with Father Fleabag!
• Black Mirror season 5 launches on Netflix on 5 June.
